Shipping products in bulk is common in today's marketplace. Frequently, it is expeditious to ship a large number of relatively small containers of products together. Prior to shipment, the containers are typically positioned on a pallet for transportation. The pallet provides ease in transporting and handling the large number of containers. FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a shipping container 10 on a pallet 12. The pallet 12 is also generally sized and shaped for lifting by a forklift. However, in order to protect the containers 10 and support the containers 10 during stacking and transportation, a cornerboard 5 is positioned along the corner of the stacked containers. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cornerboards 5 are typically produced from laminating multiple layers of paperboard and forming them into a “V” or 90 degree angle, as shown in FIG. 1. For example, known cornerboards 5 are fabricated or manufactured from a plurality of alternating paper plies having alternative width dimensions that are bent at a common central portion at an angle of 90 degrees.
In order to secure the containers 10 as well as the cornerboards 5, the cornerboards 5 are typically positioned along each of the corners of the stacked containers 10, as shown in FIG. 2, prior to banding the containers together. The cornerboards 5 then support the containers 10 during shipping, ease in stacking and protect the containers 10 from damage.
However, in order to properly position and maintain the cornerboard 5 precisely on the corner of the pallet 12 of containers 10, at least two shipping personnel or employees are required. Specifically, at least one shipping personnel or employee is required to hold one of the cornerboards 5 in position, and at least one other shipping personnel or employee bands, such as shrink wraps, the containers 10 and each of the cornerboards 5 together. Most often, the containers 10 and the cornerboards 5 are banded in stages, for example, corner by corner, because the employee can only hold one cornerboard 5 against the containers 10 at a time. Alternatively, a shipping personnel or employee may be positioned at each of the corners of the containers 10 and pallet 12, and each employee may hold one of the cornerboards 5 as another employee bands the cornerboards 5 to the containers 10 and the pallet 12. In such a method, at least 5 employees are required. Accordingly, these methods are time consuming and costly. Multiple employees are required to position cornerboards 5 and secure the cornerboards 5 to the containers 10 for each pallet 12. In the shipping and manufacturing industry, reducing the cost of labor and the time required to ship products can significantly increase profit.